10 Long Years
by ncisabbylover
Summary: The team gathers together to celebrate Callen & Sam's 10th year of partnership. A few drinks, some teasing, an of course, the story of how such a strong partnership started. Originally written for the NCIS Los Angeles Hiatus Fanfic Exchange on Tumblr.


"A hat stand G? Really? You know, when I tell you you need to buy more furniture I mean a couch, maybe an arm chair. Get something I can sit on other than that stupid bean bag. Something useful."

"It is useful Sam. I have somewhere to hang my hat at the end of the day. Isn't that what a home is? A place to hang your hat."

"You never wear hats," retorted Sam.

"Now that's not true! I've tried on a number of hats. I was especially fond of that hot dog one. The only reason I didn't buy it was because we were on a case. I should go back, see if they still have it."

Sam rolled his eyes at his partner. Before he could comment further though, Kensi and Deeks appeared with their drinks.

"Here's to ten years of partnership!" Deeks toasted, raising his glass, "I still doubt I could put up with Kensi for that long."

Kensi elbowed him in the ribs and he recoiled defensively.

"Here's to 10 more?" Kensi proposed, clinking her glass with the rest of the group.

"If you think I'm still going to be chasing down suspects and speeding through car chases in 10 years you're delusional," said Sam, clinking his glass despite his own protests.

"What are you saying? You're gonna leave me out in the field by myself, partnerless? I thought you were supposed to always have my back."

"Retirement G. A nice house, working on the challenger, no calls into work at 3am. You can't tell me that doesn't sound good, even to you."

"Sounds boring," Callen dismissed.

"It sounds great is how it sounds. Plus there's the added bonus of seeing my wife everyday. Maybe if you found yourself a girl it would be a bit more appealing. Oh, and I won't have to deal with your issues on a daily basis."

"I'm sorry, issues? What issues? I don't have any issues!"

"Please. I've been dealing with your issues since our very first case together."

"What was your first case? I don't think I've ever heard that story," Kensi butted into their bickering, hoping to distract them.

"There's a reason for that," Callen replied, "It wasn't what you'd call a smooth operation. It took us a while to find our rhythm."

"You can't have been much worse than us." Deeks nudged Kensi as he said it.

"Believe me. It was much worse. Sam here was untrusting and had a major superiority complex."

"I was untrusting because you were determined to go lone-wolf, a habit you still haven't completely kicked I might add. That first case, he almost got us both killed."

"I went lone-wolf because you were pissed at me from the outset. Even if I had suggested a plan you wouldn't have listened."

"It was a bad idea."

"That's not the point!" Callen looked fronted.

Sam looked over at Kensi and Deeks who were trying hard to conceal their smirks.

-X-

 _"Mr. Callen, this is Special Agent Hanna. Your new partner."_

 _The two men stood across from each other, Hetty between them, both silently assessing the other._

 _"Sam." Sam finally offered, extending his hand and the less formal name._

 _"Callen."_

 _They shook hands even as Sam bristled at the brush off. He wasn't too pleased with this arrangement either but at least he was making an effort._

-X-

"He looked so pissed with me. Called me 'Agent' or 'Agent Callen' and every time I called him Sam I saw his fist clench and that vein in his neck begin to pulsate." Callen laughed.

"You'd be pissed too if your new partner refused to tell you his first name," Sam defended.

"There wasn't a name to tell."

"I didn't know that. I thought you were just being an ass. You could've just told me! Hell, you could've just told me your initial!"

Callen scoffed and went to parry back but was interrupted by Deeks.

"Okay, okay. We know you're an old married couple now but we want to know how your great love affair started. Finish the story."

-X-

 _The car was uncomfortably quiet. Sam had tried to make conversation a number of times over the past three hours, asking questions, commenting on the previous night's news, hell he'd even tried talking about the weather. His new partner seemed to be the master of the monosyllabic answer though. He would grunt a word and continue to stare out the windscreen of the car, effectively shutting down all of Sam's attempts at being civil._

 _"Ever feel like you just have to make life happen for you?" It was an odd, out of context question for sure but it was the first time his new partner had initiated the conversation let along mustered more than a single word. Hell, it was the first time in the last hour that he'd done more than grunted._

 _"Uh yeah, I suppose. Sure. Sometimes." Sam replied. He was just about to ask Callen to elaborate when Callen opened his car door._

 _"Good. So we agree." And then Callen was striding down the street, straight towards the house they were staking out._

 _"Hey! Callen! HEY! Agent!" Sam called to his retreating form, trying to keep his voice to a shouted whisper in an effort to not draw attention to them. Callen didn't even flinch, let alone turn back._

 _"What the hell? Well, you know what? If mono-syllabic man wants to go it alone, who am I to stand in his way?" Sam muttered to himself, fuming, "If he gets himself killed maybe the obit will have is first name."_

 _Callen disappeared from view around the back of the house and Sam swore under his breath as he finally relented and followed his new partner, muttering obscenities as he went. He was just approaching the gate Callen had opened when he heard the dull thud of a fist meeting flesh._

 _"Who are you? Who sent you?"_

 _"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I live on the block behind yours you see and my son, my son said his ball landed in your back yard."_

 _Sam mentally applauded Callen's quick thinking but winced as he heard his partner taking another hit._

 _"Don't lie. Who are you?" The man yelled again._

 _Sam took a deep breath and stepped into view of Callen and the two men behind the fence._

 _"Did you find Aiden's ball? We can just buy him another one you know." Sam turned to their two suspects, "Oh, hi. So sorry to just intrude like this. We've just moved to the neighbourhood."_

 _The two men stood about confused for a moment before shaking Sam's hand, seemingly accepting the story now that there were two of them. Or maybe it was just Sam's impressive stature that had them reeling back. Still, their hands seemed to hover suspiciously close to the gun-shaped bulge beneath their blazers._

 _"Are you okay? You look a little pale," commented Sam to Callen, reaching out to touch his forehead, checking for a temperature._

 _"Now that you mention it, I'm not feeling great." Callen played along._

 _"I told you not to get the fish tacos. Let's head back. We'll buy him a new ball tomorrow." Sam turned back to the two men, "Again, we're so sorry. It won't happen again."_

 _"Sorry for the bother." Callen reiterated, following Sam out of the yard and back to the car. Sam was speeding off before Callen had a chance to get his seat belt on._

 _"What the hell?" Sam finally burst. His neck vein was pulsing but he kept his focus on the road and the stop-start LA traffic._

 _"Nice save back there bud. Though did you have to go with the gay dads cover? It's a bit of a cliché don't you think?"_

 _"I'm sorry. Next time I save your ass I'll come up with a better cover. Oh wait, there's not going to be a next time! I should've never had to have come up with a cover in the first place. You should've stayed in the car. Were were sent to observe, not to piss off the suspects!" Sam fumed through gritted teeth._

 _"What's got you so worked up Big Guy? You can't tell me you weren't bored back there. We wanted to know what they looked like and if they were home. Now we know! I just expedited the process."_

 _"Look, if you want to go it along, get punched, put yourself at unnecessary risk, that's your call but I can't do that. Unlike you, some of us have more than just ourselves to think about." Sam pulled the car into the mission parking lot and killed the engine._

 _"Look, I'm sorry," Callen started, "but everything worked out just fine."_

 _"If you count getting sucker punched in the stomach twice as 'just fine,'" Sam retorted._

 _"It was three times actually. And they didn't even draw their weapons. I call that a win," Callen argued as they both got out of the car. Sam slammed his door shut and strode towards the mission, his anger still radiating from his very being._

-X-

"I should've just left you there to get yourself out of it."

"What? And let me die? You couldn't of lived with yourself!" Callen countered.

"It would've built character. Maybe you'd have learned not to run off on your own and we would've saved ourselves years of you repeating the same mistakes."

"I've gotten better! You never know, I might break the habit one day."

"Too late now. You know what they say about old dogs," Deeks piped in.

"Are you calling old?"

"Well, you are older than Kensi and me so… yeah, I guess I am." Deeks grinned.

"He's not wrong G." Sam took another swig of his beer.

"Really? From my own partner? And if I'm old, what does that say about you?"

"Hey, I have something to show for my age. A wife, two kids. Besides, 'learning is the ecstasy of life, which keeps our hearts young and our minds sharp.' When was the last time you tried to learn something new?"

"Here we go, now he's bringing out the fancy quotes." Callen rolled his eyes teasingly.

"So, is that it? Did you guys just get over it and learn to work together?"

Sam laughed at Kensi's question.

"Did you two just get over it and learn to work together?" Sam countered.

Deeks shrugged, "Kinda, yeah."

Now both Sam and Callen were laughing at the younger partners who looked slightly affronted.

"No, we did not just 'get over it'" Callen replied.

-X-

 _"Hetty, no. I want a new partner. He's gonna get us both killed within the week!" Hetty didn't even look up from the file she was reading as Sam stormed into her office and started ranting._

 _"Mr. Hanna, while I appreciate your struggles with this new assignment, you have to give it some time. There will be an adjustment period for the both of you but I'm certain you'll get through it and be stronger partners for it."_

 _"Hetty." The woman finally looked up at Sam. "I don't know that I'm going to live through the adjustment period with him as a partner. I can't have someone who is taking unnecessary risks, putting both our lives in danger without thinking it through, without a plan. I've got a family to think about. Kam is barely three months old."_

 _"Maybe this is something you should be telling Mr. Callen. Air your grievances so to speak."_

 _"I'm supposed to just tell him about my family? Hetty, the man won't even tell me his first name!"_

 _"Perhaps, Mr. Hannah, you should ask him." Hetty stood from her desk, "I know the two of you are going to have some teething issues. You are both bring a very different set of skills to the table but both your skills are of great value. I think that, given time, you are going to make a fine partnership."_

 _Hetty turned and left for ops, leaving Sam unable to protest further to his boss._

-X-

"I'm going to guess that you didn't walk back over the Callen and bust out your baby brag book." Deeks surmised.

Sam grinned and shook his head, "No, not exactly. We continued to work side by side but not really together. Mostly we ignored each other. It was going pretty well for about a week until we had another run in with the two guys we'd somehow convinced not to kill us on that stakeout."

"And this time, they were a lot harder to fool." Callen joined in. "We were in a warehouse, intercepting what was supposed to be a small shipment of weapons when these two guys show up. We knew we were going to get made but it was too late to turn back so we went in, guns drawn, and they got the drop on us."

"That's putting us in too good a light G. We were too busy bickering to to notice they'd snuck up behind us. They clocked us and we were both out cold." Sam finished.

-X-

 _When Sam regained consciousness, he was in a small room, hands bound behind his back. He could hear people talking just outside the room but it wasn't in English. He knew that language but his head was still too fuzzy to figure it out. Using the wall to aid him, he stood to his feet and looked around the room. There, lying in the corner, was Callen._

 _Sam approached, relived to see the other man breathing._

 _"At least I don't have to try and resuscitate him." Sam mumbled to himself. In a shouted whisper he said,"Hey! Wake up!"_

 _He kicked at Callen's legs and the man finally stirred._

 _"The hell?" Callen was a lot more out of it than Sam. "Where are we? Wait, no never mind. I remember."_

 _Callen sat up, leaning against the wall for a few seconds before pushing up so he too was standing._

 _"So, ready to bust out of here?"_

 _"You're kidding me right?" Sam asked, incredulous. "You think we're what? Just going to bust down that door and they'll drop their weapons and surrender?"_

 _"What's your problem?"_

 _"You. You are my problem. You and your lack of regard for my life, not to mention your own. I get it. You're the lone-wolf, the bachelor. This job is your life because you have no life outside of the job. No one waiting for you at home, no personal ties or responsibilities. Well I do. I have a wife and two kids who are counting on me to make it back home so god help me if I'm going to get myself killed following your stupid ass because you were too lazy and gun-ho to wait 5 seconds and think of a reasonable plan!"_

 _Callen looked at him dumbfounded for a moment before setting his mouth in a line and nodding. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."_

 _"Well, now you do."_

 _"So, what's the plan?"_

 _Sam didn't immediately reply, instead, he used his teeth to tighten the zip ties around his wrists before slamming his arms downward, snapping the ties. Callen grinned and followed suite._

 _"They're speaking Farsi," Sam said, moving closer to the door and sticking his ear against it to better hear the conversation of the men outside. "It's just the two of them. One of them is going to come in here and deal with us while the other grabs the weapons from the dead drop on the other side of the warehouse." Sam translated._

 _"So, one of us pretends to still be out cold and the other jumps him as he comes in the door." Callen suggested._

 _"Sounds good. Get on the floor." Sam retorted._

 _"Why am I the decoy?"_

 _Sam glared at him._

 _"Fine, fine. I'll be the decoy this time. But next time, it's your turn," he said, moving across the room to effectively 'play dead'._

 _"Yeah, yeah. We'll see about that Agent Callen."_

 _Callen turned back to Sam._

 _"G."_

 _"What?"_

 _"You can call me G."_

 _"Okay, G. What do I have to do to unlocked the next letter?" Chuckled Sam._

 _Callen shrugged, turning back and laying down. "When I figure it out, you'll be the first to know."_

-X-

"We took them down and got burgers on the way home." Callen finished the story, smiling slightly at the wrapt looks of attention both Kensi and Deeks were giving Sam and him. "We've been model partners ever since."

That broke the other pair, Kensi scoffing while Deeks grinned and rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for having my back for the past ten years, Grisha." Sam grinned, raising his glass to Callen's.

They clinked their glasses and finished the last of their drinks.

"So what was that you were saying about retirement Sam?" Callen asked, that telltale smirk firmly in place, "Because I was thinking you, me, and Michelle pool our money and get one of those nice, beach front mansions…"

Kensi and Deeks groaned, offering to get another round if only to avoid Sam and Callen bickering like an old married couple as Sam rose to Callen's bait.


End file.
